Dean Smith eyes Walsall's finish line

Walsall manager Dean Smith today urged his men to seal the deal and clinch survival with time to spare.

The fourth-bottom Saddlers host Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday before Monday's trip to Oldham in games which could decide their League One future.

And boss Smith, a former Wednesday captain, wants the Saddlers - who are a point from the safety line - to wrap it up as quickly as possible.

He said: "With Easter coming so late it's a big, important, period.

"With Saturday and Monday games coming so quickly it will have a big bearing on the destiny of who stays up and who goes down.

"What we've got to make sure is that we're still in the pack, fighting away and capable of staying up.

"We'd love to wrap it up as quickly as we can and three wins on the spin could do that for us."

The Saddlers dropped into the bottom four again after Notts County's 1-0 win at Tranmere on Tuesday, but are just a point behind Dagenham.

However, Smith insists only Walsall's final position matters.

The manager added: "We've been there or thereabouts since I took over so it's no different - I keep saying May 7 is the most important."

Walsall will be without the injured Clayton McDonald and Aaron Lescott on Saturday.